Do you know what happens when you add some fresh lemon, a bit of fennel seed, and a dash of red pepper flakes to shrimp and lay it over a bed of lemon spaghetti? You get this wonderful Lemon Fennel Shrimp with Spaghetti.
A delicious, mouth-watering, healthy meal. And as a bonus, this wonderful dish is ready in no time at all.
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My inspiration for this meal is Rachel Ray. I watched her prepare both a fennel shrimp and a lemon spaghetti recipe on her tv show. Both recipes we tried, and both recipes we liked. One day, I decided to add the shrimp to the pasta, and I simplified the ingredients to what I had on hand. This is the recipe I came up with, and my family loves it!
I make sure that I grab my share of shrimp right away, because once my husband and son get to it, well, let's just say that I wrote this recipe using 1 pound of shrimp, but normally when I fix it I double the recipe. My daughter isn't a fan of shrimp, but she loves the lemon spaghetti.
In the above photo, I used 31 - 40 size shrimp. See below for an older photo using 21 - 25 size shrimp.
Lemon Fennel Shrimp with Spaghetti
For the spaghetti...
4 ounces of your favorite Spaghetti, cooked
Olive Oil
1 Lemon, you will need the juice and grated rind
Parsley, fresh or dried
For the shrimp...
1 pound of Shrimp, cleaned and deveined
Olive Oil
1 - 2 tablespoon Butter
½ teaspoon Fennel Seed
¼ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 - 2 heaping teaspoons Garlic, chopped (to taste)
Salt, to taste
Parmesan Cheese, if desired
I prepare the spaghetti first...
Once the spaghetti is cooked to your satisfaction, reserve about 1 cup of the hot water, then drain the pasta. Put the spaghetti back into the pan and add a drizzle of olive oil, half of the freshly grated lemon rind, and sprinkle of parsley. Set aside until the shrimp are ready.
While the pasta is cooking, warm up a skillet over medium heat. When ready, add the olive oil and butter to the skillet. Once the butter is melted, add the fennel seed, and red pepper flakes and stir for a moment. Add the garlic and then the shrimp. Make sure the shrimp is in a single layer in the pan.
You will need to cook the shrimp about 1 - 2 minutes per side, depending on the size of your shrimp. Once you turn the shrimp, add salt, the rest of the lemon rind, juice from ½ of the lemon, and a sprinkle of parsley. Stir everything together.
You can keep the spaghetti and shrimp separate or you can mix them together. Use the reserved pasta water if you need to loosen up the spaghetti a bit.
Cut up the remaining lemon half to serve with the meal and top with Parmesan cheese if desired.
*Adjust cooking time based on the size of shrimp you use.
Lemon Fennel Shrimp with Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Spaghetti cooked
- 1 cup Water reserved from pasta water
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- ¾ teaspoon Fennel Seed
- ½ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 pound Shrimp cleaned, peeled, and deveined
- 3 cloves Garlic chopped
- Salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 Lemon Juice usually about ¼ to ⅓ cup
- 1 Lemon Zest
- 1 tablespoon Parsley fresh, chopped
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
- When the pasta is done, reserve about 1 cup of the liquid. Drain the pasta and set aside.
- Peel and devein the raw shrimp.
- Zest and juice the lemon.
- Chop the fresh parsley.
- Chop the fresh garlic.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat to medium-high heat.
- Add the olive oil and butter.
- Once the butter has melted, add the red pepper flakes and fennel. Cook and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Add the shrimp and garlic. Spread the shrimp so that it is a single layer covering the bottom of the pan.
- When the shrimp starts to turn pink stir it and spread it out in a single layer again.
- After a minute or so add the salt, pepper, lemon zest, and the lemon juice. Stir and cook until the shrimp is done. The shrimp will take anywhere from 3 - 6 minutes to cook completely depending on the size of shrimp. (I usually pull one out of the pan and cut it in half. The grayish raw look should be gone and it will be opaque inside with pink on the outside when it is done.)
- Next, add the cooked pasta along with the fresh parsley. Stir well. If you need more liquid, use some of the reserved pasta water.
- It is done! Time to eat!
Notes
Nutrition
Here is an older photo using 21 -25 size shrimp.
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